Following Malik Thiaws move from AC Milan to Newcastle United for a considerable fee that reaches €40m, Milan took almost no time in finalising their deal with a very promising defender to replace Thiaw and become an important player in I Rossoneris defensive line.
They reached an agreement with Genoa to buy their defender Koni De Winter for up to €20m.
The extra €20m Milan still have from the Thiaw sale will most likely be invested in further signings, especially an additional defender or striker, given that Milan still lack a defender in their squad.
This is especially true if they plan to rely on a back-three formation throughout the season.
According to Massimiliano Allegri’s pre-season friendlies, Milan are expected to continue playing with the same back-three defensive organisation, with possible changes in midfield and attack.
Therefore, having an additional defender within the squad would be necessary.
Furthermore, numerous critics argued that Milan could have gone for the likes of Fiorentina’s Pietro Comuzzo or Giovanni Leoni, who had joined Liverpool.
It was also suggested that both players might be better-suited for Milan than De Winter.
However, ironically enough, De Winter can become even more valuable than the two suggested players.
De Winter has proven himself at Genoa and Empoli and has gained a lot of experience in Serie A already, as opposed to the two players who have played less in Serie A and are less experienced.
De Winter is certainly not the best defender in the world at the moment.
However, his Serie A record already favours him over many other choices, given that he has been good enough, especially last season with Genoa, playing regularly and being defensively solid on most occasions.
In this player analysis and scout report on the newly signed De Winter, we will examine his profile thoroughly, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, and identifying how Allegri can make him a reliable defender within Milan’s back-three system.
The analysis will, therefore, illuminate his defensive actions and goalscoring attributes, focusing on his potential positions and roles at Milan.
Koni De Winter Profile, Positions & Roles
It is important to note that De Winter has already played under Allegris management at Juventus, and it is even more correct to say that Allegri gave him his professional debut at Juventus.
Therefore, Allegri already believes in the player’s abilities and will most probably work with him to make him even more solid defensively.
De Winter started his career in Belgium with Lierse SK and then Zulte Waregem within their youth sectors before making the big move to Juventus U17 and playing with their U19, U23, and Next Gen teams.
Although he was called up to the first team and played in a few games, especially during the 2021/2022 season, it was preferred to loan him out to gain more experience and become more reliable as a defender.
His time at Empoli helped him improve and get some considerable playing time, with 14 Serie A participations.
This attracted Genoas interest, and he eventually signed a contract with them in August 2023 for a loan with an obligation to buy.
De Winter was consistent with Genoa during the two seasons he spent with them, given that he participated in 31 games during his first season and in 26 games last season, which confirms that De Winter has already had two full seasons of experience in Serie A.
De Winter was very useful to Genoa, especially from a defensive perspective.
He played as a right centre-back in formations with back-three defensive lines, as a “libero” or a central centre-back within the same formation, and as a right-back in formations with four defenders.
This makes De Winter very suitable for Milan, mainly because he proposes many solutions in Milan’s defence, is capable of playing in back-three or back-four defensive lines, and has the experience needed in every position mentioned.
Koni De Winter Positions
The fact that he can also play as a right-back and that he is already experienced in that position gives an extra solution to Allegri in case he wants to secure the result with a more defensive right-back instead of Zachary Athekame, Álex Jiménez or Alexis Saelemaekers.
De Winter can also be used in that position in case Milan play against teams with very dangerous left wingers, as that would push Allegri to rely on a more powerful right-back in defensive duels and would therefore lean to opting for De Winter.
Despite that, it is expected that De Winter would most likely be more used as a centre-back, mainly because there is a lack of centre-backs within the team as opposed to the right-back role.
Therefore, it is expected that we will see De Winter participate more in his main position as a centre-back rather than as a right-back.
The doubt will be whether he will be used as a right centre-back or as a central centre-back.
Based on the team’s current defenders and especially on the potential new defensive signing, De Winter is more adapted to the right centre-back role because it requires less playmaking and building up from the back, as the libero needs to be more involved in ball circulation and needs to be the defender with the best passing skills within the team.
De Winter is good enough with his feet and can be relied on for passing and playing under pressure inside the team’s own half; however, he is not the best choice for the central centre-back role simply because he is not yet outstanding in terms of long passing and accurate progressive passing.
But considering that Milan actually does not have many better options for that role, it would be possible for Allegri to alternate between Matteo Gabbia and De Winter for the libero position, given that both players can meet the positions requirements.
That said, the most powerful line-up for Milan’s defence would be Strahinja Pavlović as a left centre-back, De Winter as a right centre-back, and Gabbia as a libero.
He has some advantage over De Winter for that role, thanks to his experience at Milan and the fact that he plays better with his feet and makes more correct decisions regarding passing.
In this case, De Winter would most likely become the first choice for the right centre-back spot, with Fikayo Tomori becoming the second option, whether for that position or for Gabbia.
When it comes to his possible roles within Milan’s system, De Winter can add a lot in terms of marking inside the team’s own third, guaranteeing more anticipation initiatives to the passes directed towards the strikers.
He is also a very dynamic defender who moves a lot and can be more efficient than Thiaw in this regard.
De Winter won 58.2Keep Reading TFA With A Free 7 Day Trial
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